12 oz bottle sent to me by Suttree. 1361 printed on the label. Pour is a hazed orange copper with a nice 1 1/2 inch light tan head. Head falls with patchy lacing. Random carb bubbles float to the surface, nice looking beer. Aroma is sweet caramel biscuit malt, along with orange fruit and a ever so faint and mild pepper spice yeastiness. As this warms, the pepper is really more of an earthiness. Taste is the malt up front, nice and full grain, along with the caramel sweetness, moving towards a bit of resin citrus orange and pine hops, though still more balanced towards the malt. Nice balance, clean. The finish reintroduces the earthiness, mineral. Palate is medium bodied, aftertaste lingers, though really no alcohol presence despite the elevated ABV. Nice one, thanks Phil.

From the beer of the month club. Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy orange-amber color with a medium sized foamy orange-white head that lingered and produced good lacing. The aroma was moderately sweet caramel, light molasses and faint notes of pineapple and pine. The flavor was sweet and syrupy with moderate caramel, pine, pineapple and bread. A bit harsh in the hoppiness. The finish was long, sweet and piney. Thick and syrupy body. Interesting.

Bottle. Pours a clear reddish amber with white head. Nose is caramel, sweet malt and brown sugar. Taste is rather dry malt and brown sugar. Light bodied for a "strong ale."

Bottle at Brickskeller. Clear golden, rapidly disappearing white head, solid lacing. Aroma of malt and black pepper. Taste is malt, bitter hops. Simple and straightforward.

Bottle thanks to blutt59. Pours with minimal head over a golden-amber body. Aroma is honey and grassy. Taste is honey, grassy, grainy, bitter, tea. Light bubbles. Not a lot of soul in this beer, kind of basic.

Pour is a cloudy orange with a small white head. Aroma is full of piney resin hops and caramel malts. Flavor is a roasted malt with some of the hops that show up in the aroma. Still something is missing in this beer. It’s not watery by any means its just none of the ingrediants really shine through. Still worthy of a single pick up for a rating.

Very cloudy copper coloured body with an orange glow and a thinnish (one centimetre) tan head. Aroma of strong hops, alcohol, caramel, toffee, pit fruits and a bit of peat - smells like a barley wine with a bit of an Imperial IPA scent to it. Light-bodied, if that’s possible! Mild malty flavour with not much behind the initial taste showing some alcohol, a bit of pit fruits and not much else really - insane for such a strong smelling beer! Aftertaste shows a little bit of hops and a tiny bit of pit fruits and almost nothing else! Overall, a pretty interesting beer - I was expecting much more from the taste, but this one is very weak in the flavour - the look and smell are nice, but there is nothing at all to this beer! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine in Chantilly, Virginia on 11-July-2009, sampled on 15-July-2009 at home in Washington.

$1.80 for a single bottle at Wine Warehouse, Charlottesville. Amer with a small head. Sweet malts and breadiness in the nose. Bland blend of hops and malts and finishes sweet. Hides the alcohol pretty well.

12oz bottle-pours a retaining light tan head and hazy orange color. Aroma is sweet medium malt, fruit-cherry/pineapple, resin hops. Taste is sweet medium malt, fruit-cherry/pineapple, resin/earthy hops. Thanks to decaturstevo & springslicker for sharing this.

Location: Updating this rating with a 12 oz bottle from Bruisin' Ales, 1/4/15

Aroma: The nose has some sweet malts, caramel, and a bit off, with some lingering earth
Appearance: It pours a murky looking orange color with a small beige head and some spotty lace
Flavor: The flavor is sweet and a little off, some boozy notes, and a slightly off finish
Palate: The body is light-medium, rather sticky, with what I don't consider a great mouthfeel
Overall Impression: I gotta lower the score a bit. I just find this one cloying and kind of unpleasant.
2.6: 5/4/5/2/10

Old Rating: 5/13/09
Relatively hoppy, and a decent beer, but overall its just pretty bland, I'll bumped it up a bit because of the generous hops, otherwise it would probably have been slightly lower.
2.8: 6/3/5/3/11